Light Born on the Darkest Day
by Eternal-Night-Ride
Summary: Torn between the safety of the Universe and the woman that can make the Universe disappear in her smile. As a hero, what would you choose? Ben/Julie, takes place in the Ben 10K universe.
1. A Girl

Chapter 1: A Girl

There was a girl.

It was unexpected. Not to mention _unwanted_.

As a hero, he held responsibilities that balanced the scales of the Universe's stability - its safety. Sometimes he just had to conform to certainties. What was certain was the future needed to be on this particular pathway - with Kai, who'd grown up to be a beautiful, remarkable woman - to ensure that stability.

There was a girl. A newbie into the Plumbers' organization. Originally just another one of the gaggles of girlfriends Kai chatted with. He never knew her until a Galvanic Mechamorph symbiote decided to rub itself against her leg. It was not long until she was integrated into the Plumbers, due to this symbiote and the fact that she showed she could handle the physicality.

There was a girl. She had a good rapport with him. They talked of innocuous things - smoothy flavours, Sumo Slammers. She was able to click in so easily into his conversational patterns. More than Kai. He worked hard to get Kai to notice him and while his persistence paid off, their discussions never seemed to flow as smoothly. Not like this girl. Kai had a favorite alien - Benwolf. No surprise there. This girl said her favorite was all of them. Because they were all _him_. And his stupid, stupid heart dared to flutter at that comment.

There was a girl. He would talk to her for hours on end. He would constantly volunteer her to participate in missions he was in, just to spend a bit more time with her. He would call her on his phone constantly - and, _oh did she know about this Japanese animated show? Yeah, he loved it too! _Always behind Kai's back. He did it so much that he felt the need to keep the conversations a secret. He locked the bathroom and sneakily talked to the phone in there. He deleted the messages - always with a little bit of sadness. He wanted to look back and reread her texts, with the smiley faces that said she was laughing at his bad jokes.

There was a girl. And she wasn't the one who was going to spend the future by his side.

There was a girl. This girl was breaking his stable future. This girl was breaking his perfect relationship.

_This girl was tearing his heart in two. _

---

Gwen had her suspicions from the start. Maybe it was her husband's or her baby boy's absence in the scene that made her start honing in on her cousin. Her two boys were off having some bonding time by - surprise, surprise - training.

She's always been the protective type. Unable to stop for a moment until she found something to barricade with her own body and fight for. Ben could very well take care of himself. He was the Hero of Heroes - the most powerful Plumber in the known existence - for a reason. Nonetheless, she felt inclined to come to his rescue even at the smallest indication of hurt. Her suspicions continued to grow.

She had some form of contact with Kai. Oh, their interactions were strained, true enough. Two strong-willed women in the same room could only lead to tensions and discomfort. Opposing beliefs and stubbornness were very explosive combinations. They were simply a good example of that. When they do have their moments of interaction - civilized, without the need to bite off each other's heads - Kai was surprisingly eager to share information on her life. Gwen wasn't like her at all in that respect. She kept to herself and shouldered her problems. The red-haired magician, however, had ears that were perfect for listening. And she picked up on things even at the start of conversations. Many people believed it was because she was smart. She thought it was just because she paid attention.

_"He's always out nowadays. I'm starting to think that he doesn't even wanna be home." _

That was suspicion number one. Nevertheless, Gwen was amicable enough towards Kai that she chose to reason out all those stereotypical, _"Oh you know how it is, he's busy,"_ and _"I bet he regrets being out a lot,"_ and _"He's trying his best. Being a hero makes that harder."_ Of course it felt like tiny lies. She knew Ben. More than anyone because of their shared experiences. He'd try much harder if he wanted to. He _wasn't_ trying.

_"He's hiding his phone calls, you know. It's so stupid. He doesn't need to hide in the bathroom just so I wouldn't hear. I don't care about his stupid missions anyway."_ So much resentment and anger. Kai didn't mean all of that. She was just unsure, frustrated and feeling left out of something. Gwen didn't want to tell her that she might just be on the right track. She hadn't seen her cousin then for a while, except talking to him through a holo projector. Machines don't have much in the way of expressing a lot of sentiment.

But it added to suspicion number two.

They were able to have a mission together. That was when it all rolled into a massive, nagging, cancerous suspicion. She had forgotten her conversation with Kai until she focused on noticing everything about her cousin. She wanted to be innocent of it all. But she picked up on things. Because she paid attention.

He had suggested they bring the new girl - Julie, wasn't it? - to their next mission. Good explanation, though. The Galvanic Mechamorph was a wonderful piece of weaponry - it could turn into a complex battleship now. Where they were going, confrontation against massive numbers were expected. That particular section of the Galaxy was a volatile war-torn area. There were others very against their attempt at striking up a peace treaty amongst the big players of the fight.

That dissipated her suspicion for all of two seconds. Then the two started chatting. _All the way to their destination._ It's as if the two never ran out of things to discuss. There was a way of taking notice of chemistry. It was the atmosphere. It was something that clicked inside your head that said these two really want to take each other's attention and they were doing it seamlessly. That was chemistry.

Horror was beginning to run down her spine at their constant need to get physically close. This Julie girl always had to slap playfully at his arm after a stupid joke and her cousin leaned his head so ridiculously close just to say something. They seemed oblivious to their own actions. Their words were focused on friendliness, but their actions were certainly not what Gwen would call friendly. Based on the reactions of the other Plumbers, this was becoming normalcy. No one batted an eyelash at the two's closeness.

Gwen's suspicion boiled over when Ben actually started to talk to her. They were separated from the rest of the group, forming a two-person tag team that was going to be at the forefront while the rest of the Plumbers covered their backs. They were just talking. Stupidly, she had to bring up Julie. It was out of curiosity. What she heard for next few minutes made her heart pound in her ears. Ben was practically doing a shopping list of how 'awesome' and 'cool' this girl was. He had no idea he had said more for Julie than he had of Kai. Gwen ignored the itchy inclination to bite out, _"Your crush needs more subtlety."_

For the moment, they were thankfully distractedly with the fight that ensued. In the end they were successful in patching up the unstable government that had formed from years of war and insurgency. Ben had discussed the possibility of democratic re-election for the multiple planets' governing body before they could start restructuring the government to the one they please. They were allowed to borrow some finances from neighboring planets with the help of Ben's rallying speech to said planets. Everyone seemed enthusiastic to assist when the Hero of Heroes suggested they do so.

The first thing he did was what returned her suspicions. He was looking at Julie, who had her hands in a thumbs-up sign to congratulate him. His eyes glittered more than Gwen had ever seen them, even when he and Kai had gotten together.

Gwen could only think of what Kevin would say at that time. _"This's all gonna go to pot."_

All the events earlier that day continued to bother her. But she did ignore it to spend some time with her family.

Coincidentally, the holo projector popped out the woman's familiar image. She didn't want to talk to Kai. She could still hear her heart pounding in her ears.

Kai looked scared. Frustrated. Sad. _"He's talking on the phone again. He barely said a 'Hi' to me when he came home. I want to stomp on that stupid phone." _

Telling Devlin to go to his room for a minute, with much protesting until his father said, _"Get!"_ and ushered themselves out of there, Gwen watched the girl in the holo's bedraggled form. Gwen bit her lip. She had no idea what to say or where to start. Instead, she enumerated another one of her set of comforting answers.

If her suspicion was correct, she would have to talk to her cousin first. Gwen didn't particularly like Kai. But her heart broke at the sight of the woman, looking for all the world like a lost child in the rain.

---

"You're worn out. Again," Gwen noted, frowning disapprovingly.

Rubbing the back of his head, Ben responded sheepishly, "Too much to do. Lots of places to go. Lots of people to save." He yawned. "Sleep's not that important."

"You're going to ignore your health for the sake of saving the Universe," she stated flatly, staring at him incredulously. Chuckling, he waved a hand dismissively as if this was going to assist in removing the sardonic expression on her face. It didn't. "I know, I know. I'm dumb. Lucky I got my smart cousin to watch my back."

"Ever heard of taking a break?" she suggested, smiling sadly.

"I've heard of it." He wiped his eyes of the need to sleep. "Don't really subscribe to it."

With a thoughtful expression, Gwen finally decided to suggest, "How about a walk?"

"No hoverboard?" he questioned, his eyebrow raised.

"You're always on the run, Ben." _From everything. From your enemies. From yourself._ The red-haired female Tennyson stood up from her seat. "Let's walk this time."

They started strolling down the Plumber's HQ. After some time, they passed by one of the offices. When they stop at a particular glass window, they could easily view Helen sitting on one of the tables while Julie leaned on her own table. The two girls then laughed at something, though the Tennyson cousins couldn't hear because of the glass window.

Ben mustn't have noticed his face suddenly adorning a wistful expression, but Gwen certainly didn't miss it. So she asked, "Are you doing okay?"

"I can't imagine what it would be like if the Omnitrix wasn't on me," he narrated distractedly, smiling when Julie giggled behind her hand. Gwen's expression changed minutely as she also took a glance at where her cousin's looking. She silently formed a conclusion. "No means of protecting everything I ever cared for or believed in. I don't think I'd like _not_ being a hero. And it's not because I want people to be looking up at me or something stupid like that. To me, it feels like you or Grandpa Max would be falling off a cliff and all I can do is watch." Looking away, he was determined to start walking again.

She grabbed his arm before he went any farther. Surprisingly enough, it was the same arm the Omnitrix was wrapped around. "It must feel horrible to place that much responsibility on your shoulders."

"I want it," Ben said with steely eyed determination. "I won't complain."

Squeezing her fingers on the bridge of her nose, she tried to suggest, "Don't you ever wonder about a world outside of that responsibility?" His expression wavered for a moment. She could have missed it if she wasn't Gwen. "You can't micromanage the Universe and hope that it comes to perfection if you do."

Annoyance made him scrunch his eyebrows. Ben retorted gruffly, "Weren't we supposed to be walking?"

"Ben, listen to me," Gwen continued in a firm tone. "You are the hero. Even I can't imagine a Universe without you saving it. But what about you? You're always looking out for everyone. Can't you consider yourself at some point?"

Out of irritation and frustration, he shook his arm off of her roughly enough she had to let go. "And watch the Universe burn because I wanted to be selfish?"

"This is your grand plan to save it?" Her voice was unconsciously getting louder from her own frustration and desperation. When she noticed the surrounding Plumbers staring at them, she lowered her voice to almost a mere murmur, "Hurting and punishing yourself so that you can heal something else is no more a good decision as letting what you're supposed to be saving to bleed to death. Ben, you'll save them. But you'll kill yourself."

"Fine I'll go get some sleep," the owner of the Omnitrix said exhaustedly, evasively. He tried to hide that he was catching another glance behind the glass window, but he failed to take into account that his cousin was intelligent enough to see through it. "You're so bossy." He decided to just stomp away from her, angry at the fact that she noticed and felt the need to point it out. Angry at himself for being stupid enough to let it happen.

Watching the figure of her cousin disappeared off into the distance, Gwen remarked sadly to herself, "And even then, I can't watch out for you. Because you won't let me."


	2. Blissfully Oblivious

Blissfully Oblivious

She admired Kai Green with the sort of reverence you designate to heroes. Even when they were younger, Kai was like the tough older sister who would back you up if you ever felt like you were about to give up. Certainly, Kai had little in the way of tact and wasn't quite as empathic or understanding as Julie. That decreased by the time she got older. She processed that certain words should not just leave your mouth without interruption from your brain.

The point was, despite the girl's shortcomings, Julie was able to see how admirable Kai could be. That was long before the truth was revealed on planet Earth of the existence of Plumbers.

They were in the same school together. Perhaps it was Julie's open and amicable personality that allowed them to become friends. Or perhaps it was Kai's close connection with her culture that did it. It was something that Julie wanted to achieve, having been far from her place of origination since birth. While Kai informed her avidly of the Navajo dance she was practicing, Julie would tell a story of the quirky traditions that was maintained in her own culture. They laughed at each other when they both tried to make the loudest slurp from their noodles after a discussion on the Japanese belief that slurping was respectful.

They had their moments of disagreements, certainly. Everyone would go through that. Julie was always the one to come to Kai to reconcile. The girl was far too proud to consider yielding or perhaps too stubborn. Julie found it easy to do so, because she was the one to maintain the peace. This difference allowed them to stay as friends for so long.

When Ben came into her existence, it was also in childhood - in her teens, to be exact. Only as a name, mentioned with some level of annoyance.

"He keeps bothering me, you know. Ever since we saw each other again. 'Long time no see'," the Indian girl mocked in what Julie assumed to be a boy's voice. "Yeah, well, not long enough. He's not even my type." Cue eyeballs rolling.

Julie always giggled at her friend's antics regarding this, though she did have some disagreement with how harshly Kai treated the smitten boy. She had tried to subtly suggest letting him down nicely. Kai just tried to ignore him completely, which was her version of nice. Julie had been oblivious to the fact that the reason why Kai and Ben even had to hang around each other so much was due to this Plumber's business - at that time, was Alien Force business.

It was the progression of time that melted all the icicles around Kai's heart. Julie was impressed with the boy's prolonged enthusiasm and dedication to woo someone who wasn't interested. Although she was told that he did stop actively trying to pursue Kai, it was the fact that he hadn't stopped being interested at all that was commendable. Eventually, the two started going out.

It was a rocky start and an equally rocky maintenance. Julie was the willing ear that listened to the thousand and one new complaints of Ben's inability to be mature, romantic, etc. It wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad either. She was also told of instances where they were happy. Those times that the girls sighed together and giggled appreciatively at the boy's bumbling but still endearing attempts at romantic.

Strangely enough, Julie also happened to be a friend of one of Ben's ex-girlfriends. Elena Validus. A cool, collected young lady that was also - unsurprisingly - connected to the Plumbers. She had little idea of this, as usual. It seemed as though she was intricately entwined with the Plumbers even at the very start, without her knowledge. The end result had been waiting for her and shouldn't have come as much of a surprise.

Elena was her source of another point of view. Apparently even if Elena had gone out with Ben, it seemed as though he was somehow expecting it to end at some point. It was as if he wasn't trying and was, in fact, a bit distant. When the relationship did end, it wasn't an explosive one. It was like it just sputtered out. The only thing Elena had been pissed off about was the idea that he had just been wasting her time while she was working towards something meaningful. The most overwhelming feeling was exhaustion. Exhaustion of the relationship's existence.

These information were two very contradictory details that made Julie a bit undecided about what Ben was like. They were all second-hand information. She had never met him during those times. Blissfully oblivious.

She was the first to congratulate Kai at the mere mention of an engagement. She had tackled the poor girl in a bear hug while Kai sarcastically remarked, "Oxygen needs to saved on Planet Earth anyway. I don't need to breathe."

Apologizing profusely for her overexcitement, Julie instinctively bowed repeatedly. Kai just smirked at her and grabbed her hands so that they could squeal like little girls and bounce around.

Due to Kai's delirious happiness, Julie was equally happy as well. The excitement was infectious. After all was said and done - all the flurry of excitement - they eventually reached the ceremony. During the occasion, Julie was in the background.

It was the first time she had seen the groom. He was actually a rather attractive young man. There wasn't much she could gather from him because he and her had never had the chance to talk personally. When Kai decided to introduce her friends to him, their conversation composed of him giving her a distracted, "Hi." Then they moved on to meeting and greeting other people.

What Julie did notice from such a short exchange was his tiredness, as if he was so physically exhausted that this entire thing was draining whatever reserve of strength he had left. She thought it was probably something to do with how stressful weddings could be. Julie would later realize that it was a lot more complex than that.

The ceremony moved on. Through it all, Ben had been oblivious to her existence.

What was her previously normal life was brought to a halt upon the big reveal. The unveiling of the shocking presence of aliens. The fact that they had been interacting with them for so long, under the unsuspecting humans' noses, while they remained blissfully oblivious. The part that really made her step back was the fact that two of her friends kept it all under wraps to her as well. For a time, she was upset by this because she believed that they didn't trust her enough to share that information.

Julie wasn't the type of person to be loudly angry. She imploded; became colder and more sarcastic. This just irritated Kai, who was the type of person to shout when angry. After walking out on their argument, Julie allowed herself to simmer quietly so she could recollect enough sensibility beyond the haze of anger. Sensibility made her understand why it needed to be kept secret and why the silence and the precautions were to keep her safe. Again, she had patched her friendship with Kai and stopped giving Elena the cold shoulder.

Life returned to normal.

Until Ship came into the picture. It had been looking for someone with a Plumber's Badge. So he should have gotten Kai but found her instead. Because he was obviously some kind of alien, she had directed him to Kai by sheer instinct. They were able to save Baz-El, the Galvanic Mechamorph where the symbiote came from. Baz-El no longer wanted the symbiote after he had been saved.

Kai said she would have preferred if the dog actually looked like a dog. Ship acted far too domesticated for Kai to take interest in, so Julie decided she was going to keep him. The enthusiastic bounding of the Mechamorph suggested he was happy with these conditions.

Somehow, having an alien for a pet immediately made other hostile aliens seem to gravitate towards her general direction. She had seen too much action and adventure for a normal human girl who wasn't a Plumber's kid. Julie actually kind of liked the adventures, they were fascinating if they hadn't interfered with getting to work on time or something really urgent. One that was really annoying was when she was fighting too long that she was late for a date. The guy decided to leave after being made to wait for hours.

At some point she actually assisted the Plumbers in a particularly difficult fight against Vilgax and his underlings. Her control of Ship was hers and hers alone. Her assistance was invaluable enough that someone suggested she should also be turned into a Plumber. After a few months in Plumber Academy, she was given a badge and placed in the headquarters where Ben was also situated.

Ben Tennyson - the Hero of Heroes, savior of the Universe, owner of the Omnitrix - was, by far, the busiest Plumber in that headquarters. While he was serious during missions, he was still fun-seeking and bursting in personality when he actually found the time.

The first time she met him, she was a little bit excited and floating in cloud nine about the prospect of meeting _the Hero_. The only way to comfort herself about her nervousness was to assure that Kai was married to him, and by proxy, they were sort of connected. That didn't work out well. So she gulped and quietly went inside the room he was in.

In her trembling hands was a report on some reconnaissance mission. It floored her to catch the sight of a guy playing video games with such absorbed concentration while shovelling chilli fries into his mouth every now and again. She was almost wondering whether she had gone inside the wrong room.

"Hello?" she hazarded.

Immediately unplugging the game in a panic, he nearly choked in the fries as he swallowed too much too quickly. She started worrying enough to step closer to approach him. Julie even had her arms ready for a Heimlich maneuver. But then he turned, a wide sheepish grin on his face.

"I swear that was important to the fate of the Universe as we know it," he explained.

A giggle bubbled from her throat. "You're learning fighting techniques from the combos."

His bright green eyes seemed to sparkle in amusement. With a raised finger, he confirmed, "Exactly that. Very important skill: that right arrow, right arrow, circle, cross."

She laughed behind her hand. _She liked this guy. _

---


	3. Cannot Dream

Cannot Dream

Other than the occasional greetings across the corridors, or giving him some report or the other, there wasn't much of an excuse to converse longer with him. They haven't had the opportunity to work together either. He was for more important missions while her newbie status designated her to much less difficult ones. Julie knew that she had to work diligently for the opportunity to rise through the ranks.

Then he came across difficulty regarding accountancy of his own finances. Utterly baffled, he'd poked his head out of the office and found Manny lounging on a chair. There was no one else in that part of the headquarters except the three of them. She had her back turned, trying to grab herself some caffeine while she scratched affectionately at the Galvanic Mechamorph perched on her shoulder. Nonetheless, she still heard the conversation.

There was unwilling dragging first, a lot of incoherent complaining and threats to kick someone's ass two ways to Sunday. Then the question was raised. It was muffled by the walls separating the two rooms. But the next few words were stated loudly enough to break that barrier.

"Why you askin' me?" the one who was probably the Tetramand snapped irritably.

As if there was a slow dawning realization, a few moments passed before groaning and forehead slapping commenced. "Oh man! My brain fried enough I stopped thinking at all."

"That's it, you asked for this." The sounds of two pairs of fists smacking against each other made Julie turn. She was right in time to see Ben evade the fists that nearly smashed across his face through the office door. The Hero of Heroes – whose face was that of barely contained amusement – was grabbed by the scruff of his neck when she decided to intrude with a cough.

"What's the problem?" she asked. Ship decided to slide down to the ground. "I might be able to help."

Swiftly sneaking his way out of Manny's hold, the brunette smiled brightly at her. Manny hissed irritably in the background and stomped off. "Julie, right?" She nodded slowly. "Are you any good at math?"

She was a straight A student when she was in school. She had the choice between Quantum Physics and Laboratory Medicine as her course. Instead of possibly ending up in a mine after finishing the other option, she decided to take Laboratory Medicine. Even then, mathematic equations were important to judge the microscope resolution, what degree of curvature the lens should possess or even the number of dilutions to be done to achieve the right concentration of a solution. The only reason she was beginning to get rusty was that her occupation as a Plumber only required her to calculate the angle of the trajectory of her arm cannon's shot.

Smiling meekly, she said, "I know a bit."

---

"Where have you been all my life?" he gasped, tapping on the keyboard with renewed vigor that made her slightly afraid that his fingers were going to snap off. "I could have used your brain back then. I failed Physics class back in grade 9 and had to do it again while I was in grade 10."

"But you did get past it after grade 10, right?" she questioned, sitting comfortably on the chair beside him."Yeah, but I had to miss out on soccer practice so I could stay back and study," he cringed visibly at this, clicking a few more keys with finality. "That royally _sucked_. Good thing I could choose the easiest Maths class at that point so my brain didn't explode."

"You know," she began, pointing towards the screen helpfully. "You could just use this function at the toolbar right there and select the rest of these columns to copy the equation to the rest of the numbers."

"My cousin didn't have the patience to tell me about this kinda stuff, even back then," he narrated distractedly, sticking his tongue out in concentration. She stifled her giggle at the sight. "I wasn't patient either. But she wouldn't give me the stinkin' answer anyway." He swivelled his chair to face her but the force was hard enough to just twirl him back to where he started. She was unable to hold in the snickering by then. "Before you even ask, we fought a lot."

She felt so disrespectful that she found it all so funny, but the smile that broke out on his face suggested he wasn't offended.

"You're not _that_ bad a student," she stated sweetly, placing her chin in both her hands while her elbows rested on the table. There was a glimmer of something in his eyes as he stared back at her but before she could really understand what it was about, he turned back to the computer to save his data.

"I just have a good teacher," he responded simply.

Standing up, she smiled at his spiky brown hair from where she was. "I better get going."

He swivelled his chair again. The chair came to a dead stop right in front of her. "When's your break gonna be over?"

She glanced at the clock. "Fifteen minutes from now? But I do have a report I have to clean up and some documents I need to arrange for the debriefing later today…" her voice wavered when he was still staring up at her expectantly.

"How long will that take?"

Most of that time. "Maybe five minutes?"

A toothy grin. "Wanna get a smoothie?"

---

Overworked. That was the word she would use for him. Even observing from afar, she could tell how he wore himself ragged. Everything and everyone was making demands from him. Whatever passed for his break, he spent on escapism. The gaming console under his desk, his smoothie breaks, using the observation area with the multiple screens to watch the soccer match on cable. All of them made him appear childish. But he needed them. Like grasping at straws of normalcy and humanity.

When he requested her company, she didn't even think twice about going ahead. It was one meager request over the thousands demanded from him every single minute of his existence.

It was a bad idea to have smoothie in an actual smoothie store. He would be mobbed by people too eager to take up his time. The entire point was to ignore the rest of the universe for five minutes. Apparently, he still got the smoothie from the same place that he did almost ten years ago. He already arranged a way for him not to be seen by anyone, grab the smoothie and hide away somewhere.

"You're still not sick of it?" she asked, gawking openly. She had experience with flying with Ship, but usually her feet were stepping on something tangible, not complete air. They weren't using a hoverboard because that would mean checking out the equipment out of the locker and noticing the pattern that Ben always ditched 'boring' meetings. Just because he was a hero didn't mean he got away with everything. He still answered to the Galactic Council.

Her feet tingled as she dangled underneath the form he called Stinkfly. She was being polite when she decided not to slap her hands over her nose at the Lepidoterran's smell. Ben did tell her it was okay to do so and he wouldn't be offended. Kai apparently hated the form and constantly made remarks against using it. Julie refused to let herself be overcome by the smell. At some point, she got used to it.

"Nope," he answered. "I get obsessed with different combinations of flavors all the time. I change it up when I wanna try something else. But I never get sick of smoothie."

"Green tea, cheese and mango, though?" He laughed, placing her lightly on the rooftop of the dilapidated building.

"Trust me," he said, transforming back to the young man with amused green eyes. "That's not the weirdest one."

---

The young woman found his antics and strangeness endearing. They always conversed of something that wasn't his line of work. Because Ben seemed to come up with something new all the time, he always went off on some tangent and moved from there. Julie caught up quickly on the new subjects, despite the almost schizophrenic topic changes.

She taught their silly little excursion in the middle of nowhere was a one time thing. Then he found another leeway in his schedule and asked again. Then again. And again. After being interrupted one day with an urgent call from his Plumber's Badge to handle some threat, he asked for her number to continue their conversation there. Blinking owlishly, she shrugged and handed him the number. He sped past the scene as XLR8.

An hour later, the meeting she was in was interrupted by the sound of her message tone. With an embarrassed smile at the peeved superior at the front, she excused herself from the room. Upon checking the screen, her eyebrow raised at the message that appeared under the name.

'U wana b pnk rangr or yelo? I thnk pnk suits u. I wana b green.'

Unable to help herself, she burst into laughter. The other Plumbers in the area stared at her, so she decided to clamp her mouth shut.

Her long fingernails started quickly tapping out a reply. 'Not red? He's d leadr.'

Only a few seconds passed before a response appeared on the screen. 'I lyk green betr.' She never remembered that Tommy and Kim were a couple in the series. It was just the continuation of a conversation on which power ranger they wanted to be when they were younger.

She sent another message. 'K. I'm pink. : )'

When Julie went back inside the meeting room, the smile plastered on her lips never went away.

---

Kai's friend had been renamed in his head as Julie. They'd become close after all the conversations. At some point, the silly conversations became just a bit more serious. But it would never be about his status as hero. Ever.

One of her more serious conversations with him had started on an innocent query. The answer was so dismal she realized she probably shouldn't have talked about it at all.

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized, staring at the floor. "I didn't know."

"'S okay," he sipped through the straw. "It was a long time ago."

"I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Really," he said slowly and resolutely. "It's okay. I'm over it." He shook the polystyrene cup. "My mom died when I was fifteen. That's years ago." She stared at his face, searched his eyes. She didn't hear the lie. She felt it. There was a breath of a self-depreciating chuckle. "I was being cocky and stupid. I let everything get to my head. I wasn't there on time. And I couldn't go back. I just have to make sure that it never happens again. This time, I _will_ save everyone. So I asked someone who knows and I got my answer. I'm on the right track now."

She wanted to know exactly what he meant by all that. It was so vague it could have meant anything. But she really didn't want to drag him through even more of the painful memories. So she allowed him to change the subject.

---

He valued her opinion. This flattered her immensely. She couldn't help it since their friendship didn't necessarily dissipate the level of respect she had for him. When he started believing that her input was important, it made her feel happy. Made her feel like she was helping the guy who didn't need help in some small way.

Strangely, she could count on her one hand the times that Kai was mentioned in their conversations. Julie was the one to bring her friend up before he followed up in that particular topic. The first time she mentioned Kai was to ask why she wasn't in the same headquarters as Ben.

He only shrugged and absent-mindedly picked at his shirt. "She's very individualistic like that."

And that was the end of it.

What she gauged from the few instances they spoke of Kai suggested how much work was required for Ben to be in his relationship. His marriage was his second job. While it was important to make certain compromises to adjust to the differences between two people in a relationship, the way his anecdotes were told made her think he was working double time. Julie worried for the two of them, hoping that they would somehow sort out the issues they may have. Even if she wanted to give advise, he didn't seem all that enthused talking about it at all.

However, it wasn't her place to do so. And it was his break. She really shouldn't be demanding something from him, too. It was the only thing she could provide. Someone to share his escapism with.

Then it happened.

"I have to take out Kai tonight," he said through the 'pew, pew, pew' sound effects he was making. All the while, he pressed avidly on the buttons of the controller. "She's dropping those hints. I think it's our anniversary. Or something. Maybe her birthday." The boss fight ended with the sounds of the smoldering wreck of the machine creature dropping to the ground. Cue a cut scene. "I dunno."

"You don't remember?" she asked flatly, dangling her legs over the table as she observed the glass window of the office. She was supposed to warn him if anyone was coming. Ship was sitting innocently on her lap, observing Ben's game.

Incredulously staring at her while the cut scene played, he answered, "I'm a guy."

She blinked."And I'm not good with numbers. Or dates." He pouted at the monitor and spun the controller on the tabletop.

On her lap, Ship tilted his head to the side curiously and mentioned his own name.

"Okay, okay," she relented with a small chuckle, waving a hand. "So what did you want to ask about?"

He swiveled the chair to face her, adorning a more serious face. "What do I wear?"

She blinked again.

"Yeah, I can't wear my crappy shirt." He tugged at the shirt he was wearing as if he was presenting evidence A to the jury. The jury composed of Julie stared blankly. "But should I really get all dressed up? It's like trying too hard. And it's so stuffy," he muttered begrudgingly.

She laughed fondly. "Oh, Ben." She shook her head. "You're married." A strange expression flitted momentarily across his face, but it disappeared soon after. She was probably just overanalyzing. "There's no such thing as trying too hard. Take Kai to a nice place and get prim and proper. She'll love it."

For a few moments, there was silence. Only the sounds of the game filtered through the room.

"Hypothetically speaking, if it was you I needed to take out--" her eyebrow raised "--_Hypothetically_. What would you want me to do?"

She shrugged. "I'm not picky. I think you look good even in a crappy shirt." She smiled nicely while he stared at her with wide eyes. "It doesn't really matter what you wear or how you look because I can see _you_." She tapped her fingers lightly over his chest. "This is what I see. And it's what matters. But --" She raised a finger. "Looking presentable for a day shouldn't be that bad. The stuffy suit tells Kai you made the effort."

"You think I look good in a crappy shirt?" was what he said after her monologue, a mischievous smile spreading on his face.

"Hey!" she protested, slapping him on the chest. She crossed her arms in front of her in mock-petulance. "You completely ignored what I said after."

"I would never do that," he stated in intense seriousness.

The laugh that had began after she had said her last comment slowly faded off awkwardly.

He shut off the console abruptly. Turning to her, he beamed. "Smoothie? My treat."

He never told her how the dinner with Kai went. And she never asked. Maybe because she was instinctively afraid of the answer.

---

Julie always believed that beyond all the abilities of intelligence, one should really trust their instinct whenever it nudged at them. Why she never listened to her own advise, she would never comprehend.

Something was wrong with all of it.

The fact that he seemed to be calling her frequently ever since he'd gotten her number or that he easily took her calls were good indications. She remembered one time she phoned without knowing he was out on a mission and he'd picked up as if he wasn't busy. She could hear the sound of blasters in the background. It was baffling how she actually had to convince him to take her call later. That he would joke that he was 'cool with multitasking'.

When he volunteered her to go with his team on a mission, she thought it was because she expressed the desire to increase her experience. Her excitement through the difficulty and challenge of the fight must have encouraged him to constantly volunteer her afterwards.

The thousand and one complaints that Kai spoke with her about seemed to increase. She probably should have paid greater attention to the complaints. _Too focused on his phone. Reluctant to come home._ She should have made the correlations and added them up inside her head. For all her expertise in math, she seemed oblivious to this much.

She never thought it was any stranger than usual.

Perhaps because none of the Plumbers said anything. As if they didn't notice or that they chose not to. Maybe because they didn't want to cross the owner of the Omnitrix.

When his cousin arrived to team up with them on the latest off-world mission, something changed. He simply waited for her to call or to message before he responded. He stopped actively trying to seek her out. Ben had become evasive. He was unwilling to even stare her straight in the eye when they talked.

She wondered if it was her problem. Her mistake. She dwelled on what she must have said wrong to ruin their friendship somehow.

If she wasn't mistaken either, the dark circles under his eyes seemed to deepen and his general countenance seemed to drag down. She never caught him on his computer console anymore and he was accepting even more missions than usual. Julie was so worried about him that she nearly convinced herself to grovel in apology for whatever she'd done just so that he would listen to her one request: to take a break. But because of her personal drama, she wasn't sure she could handle him being angry with her. Especially since she had no idea what she did to offend him.

The new complaint that Kai had was that even if the phone wasn't plastered to his ear, he would stare at it while it sat on a desk. She was so caught up in her own drama that she just told Kai that it was probably nothing. Of course she recognized that it wasn't comforting.

The drama composed of her father having recently had a heart attack and getting a new boyfriend. Her father was fine after the event but she panicked and fussed and ganged up on him with her mother to tell him off of his less than healthy habits.

The new boyfriend was an interesting one. While the other drama was an unwelcome one, this was something she was more enthused about. He was a Plumber from another headquarters. He returned to home turf recently, to the HQ on Earth, so that he could visit his family. He hadn't seen his brothers and his mom in so long. Since aliens were frequently interacting with the humans at that point, settling there and walking down the roads normally, she had first met him in his Pyronite form.

Actually, that was: fight side by side with him in his Pyronite form.

Drop kicking the enemy with her Galvanic Mecha suit, the satisfying sight of the creature slamming into the building at the front made her smile. The Pyronite began to make his descent, the burning rock hovering beside the armored girl.

"Hey," the Pyronite greeted shyly. "I'm guessing you're a Plumber too."

She smiled amicably while Ship returned to his original form. As her pet plopped into her arms, she introduced herself: "I'm Julie Yamamoto. What's your name?"

Transforming back to his human form, he responded with his hand outstretched, "Alan Albright. It's nice to meet you."

She pretended to hesitantly reach out her own hand. "Promise not to burn me?"

"Promise," he chuckled.

---

The Kineceleran girl was the one Julie immediately became friends with. Helen was the complete opposite of her boyfriend, who chose to view everyone as a potential punching bag. She was as friendly as Julie, though she wasn't beyond being confrontational. Especially against her on again, off again boyfriend. Julie knew _a lot_ about that particular relationship. Because of how open she was, everybody found it easy to unload their emotional baggage on her.

The sharing of such information made them good friends.

"It's so great to have Alan back," Helen remarked excitedly. "If only Pierce and Cooper went home too, the old team would be complete."

"Alan told me they're doing fine. I haven't seen your brother or Cooper, but he's told me a lot of good things about them. You know, from the stuff I heard, they just might come back here too."

There was silence.

"Oh my God. You're dating him," Helen stated in realization.

Julie just giggled in confirmation.

---

_Cannot dream. _

_Cannot share sweet and tender moments_

_Cannot feel how we feel_

_Must pretend it's over. _


	4. As Soon As Forever Is Through

Chapter 4: As Soon As Forever Is Through

Since Alan wasn't exactly her superior - he was only temporarily returned to the Earth headquarters - there wasn't any need to keep this titbit a secret. They got a couple of teasing that made the shy half-Pyronite curl up into a ball in embarrassment. Julie seemed to possess the confidence to phase through the teasing so it made it easier.

What really made things difficult, unexpectedly enough, was Ben. Partly from the tiredness and partly from something else, he was short-fused. He was making a point of targeting Alan and observing him too closely. He always asked for mission reports from Alan, as if this satisfied some sadistic need to give the half-Pyronite a hard time. All that even if he wasn't leading the team on the mission or even taking a major role in it. The usually mild-mannered Alan was beginning to get equally irritated.

What was wrong with her interaction with Ben was going to be realized through the events that happened next.

---

Really, it must have been something about Julie that made even usually hesitant people share their problems with her. She did present herself as a willing shoulder to cry on. She was the vacuum willing to absorb all the worries and problems of her friends.

Though she wasn't being much help with Kai lately - who seemed to become increasingly frustrated if the phone calls were any indication.

"You work with him, right? Can you tell me this?" the young woman demanded shrilly. "_What is up with him lately?_ He has some nerve being angry when I ask questions! What, I'm supposed to let him go off without saying anything? He makes it like it's a big deal that he at least stopped gluing that phone to his face! So now it's okay to run off and – God! Argh!" It was as if the next choice of words were about to tumble into a nonsensical gibberish of anger that Kai eventually decided to just stop her train of thought and stick to exclamations of disgust and frustration.

"Kai, it's three in the morning," Julie responded patiently, squeezing the sleep out of her eyes. "I got work tomorrow."

"I know it's three in the freaking morning! That's why I'm calling! He's not home!" the girl on the other end snapped.

Gradually pushing her tired body into a sitting position, Julie raised a hand to placate someone who couldn't see her gesture. "Try to calm down." The half-Asian girl could hear her friend's blood simmer through the receiver. "Doesn't he have some kind of mission scheduled during this time? I mean, he's always working nowadays."

"If he is, he decided it would be much smarter to piss me off by ignoring my question about it," Kai grated. "He doesn't say where he's going. Or when he's coming home. _If_ he's coming home." The pained tone at the end was well-hidden. If anybody else were to hear her comment, it would sound just as sarcastic as the rest of her diatribe. But Julie was a close friend. Ever since they were younger, Julie was far more adept at seeing past Kai's barriers to see the more emotional girl underneath. Julie was starting to share her pain.

"He _will_," Julie reassured determinedly, as if she knew it for certain. She hoped that she really did know him well enough to make the claim. However, she was still ignoring a part of her brain that doubted what she said. "When he does, just wait for him to cool down until you ask again. I think he's pissed about something. I don't know." _It might be my fault. I'm scared to ask._ "He might be working off what's eating him. Try not to get angry with him when you do ask." The woman on the other end grunted. "He's tired and not in the best mood. If you guys just make snipes at each other, it'll just get worse. But you have to talk to each other and sort it out." She wasn't sure if her advice would help, but a proposed solution was better than empty reassurances.

There was a moment of silence.

"And why aren't you married yet?" Kai teased playfully.

Julie laughed sincerely, the haze of sleep disappearing. "Just haven't found the right guy yet. But it'll happen."

"Julie," Kai iterated slowly, with a lot of strain. The atmosphere of her intonation had eventually morphed into seriousness.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. About that. That thing with shouting– Nevermind. You know what I mean," the Indian girl sighed. "I'm just. Just so annoyed with him, you know? He can be so frustrating."

"Don't worry. I understand," Julie answered.

She was going to understand a whole lot more, especially after Ben decided to put a metaphorical target sign on Alan's forehead. Alan was one of those people hesitant to make complaints. He was meek – which she found absolutely adorable – and generally wholly agreeable. Must be because he was an older brother that he found that he had to be the mature one. Nobody else would break up the fights of his younger siblings. The only reason why he fought was if he was cornered and had lost any other prospect of settling the situation some other way. He was talk first, shoot later. This was quite unlike most of his colleagues.

He was younger than her too - just by a year - which probably added to the intimidation. But because Julie was also very nice, that level of intimidation had mostly dissipated. Basically, it all boiled down to being pressured so much that he eventually raised the issue on one of their dates.

"_What is up with him lately?_" the half-Pyronite grumbled, trying not to stab the food with his fork.

"Hmm?" Julie responded, midway through chewing her food. She swallowed, to avoid being uncouth if it was going to turn into a discussion.

"Way back when, I used to work with him and Ben wasn't such a-" _Jerk? Slave-driver?_ Julie's face was contorting to a wince. "- demanding person."

She could see he was trying _not_ to spoil the night for the two of them. The pile of reports and documentations sitting tauntingly on his desk was far too niggling a memory to just get rid off. He had to bring up the subject because he wanted to be able to do something about it. If not somehow be convinced to talk to the irate Hero, at least have the motivation to handle it better. Those same reports were cutting off his free time. Their planned dinner was supposed to be for an hour. It had to be chopped to thirty minutes so that he could get back to writing up some report.

"He usually isn't," she replied quietly, her lips pursed in thought. Looking up at Alan, she flashed the most reassuring smile she could conjure. "It's all the work he's doing. His nerves are fried. If you want, I'll help with the report writing after this dinner. Good excuse for more bonding time." She looked at him flirtatiously, which just managed to make him blush and chuckle.

"It's fine. I don't want to be a burden. This is supposed to be fun, not annoying." Waving a hand dismissively, he continued, "I can deal with it okay. I just needed to vent." He began to cut the meat. "How's your dad? Is he doing better now?"

Exasperatedly, she groaned, "After that heart attack you'd think he'd learned his lesson. I've gotten a nutritionist friend of mine to make a diet for him and he wouldn't follow it. Dad's giving mom such a hard time. He's being so childishly stubborn! He doesn't even think he drinks too much beer. If he doesn't clog his arteries first, he'd kill his liver with all that alcohol." She shook her head disapprovingly while Alan laughed good-naturedly.

"What, are you his mom now?"

"It feels like it," she answered, her lips quirking into an amused smile. The irony of the situation did entertain her a bit.

THe conversation eventually went farther from Alan's complaint, though at the conclusion of the night her mind wandered back to it. Alan had offered to drive her home but she refused, saying he was already strapped for time as it was. So she drove herself back. Well, Ship drove her back. Since Ship habitually merged with her car, she left him to drive the vehicle while she allowed her mind to get distracted from the road.

She needed to talk to Ben. Julie was usually a confident girl - she was even the first to ask Alan out instead of waiting for him to do so. For some reason, her confidence withered at the concept of talking to Ben. She was scared because she was sure she was the reason why they were no longer talking as frequently and why he was overworking himself to an early death. She _was_ getting a bit too chummy with him that she may have let loose on an insensitive remark at some point. Racking her brain for an offensive comment she may have made on his work ethic, she was frustrated when she found nothing. Either her memory was shot or she was making the wrong conclusion.

In the end, it all coagulated to the same deduction. She just needed to talk to him. However, she would have to wait for a good opportunity. She hardly ever saw him in the headquarters anymore, being out there fighting and taking on missions.

The most recent mission didn't wait for them to be in a peaceful situation before she was dunked head-first into an opportunity to talk to him. It was the worst scenario to have a conversation.

---

It was an off-world mission. The Forever Knights possessed a new castle out in space. Their operations were now in a massive scale, dealing alien tech being used as weapons in wars between planets while still searching constantly for the most powerful alien tech or the means to create such a weapon. Negotiating the exchange made it easy for them to access the different alien tech. Their knowledge of alien tech was indispensable and made them a difficult match against the legendary Ben Ten.

Kevin Levin dropped the Plumbers information regarding the Forever Knights' activities. Since he still possessed connections and alliances within the Black Markets - it was still unsure whether it was a rumor or not that he was still engaging in illegal activities - he was able to get a hold of the news that the Knights now possessed level fifteen alien tech. If the Omnitrix was level twenty, well, it was all the Plumbers really needed to be prompted into action.

The Galactic Council deemed that Ben was far too exhausted to lead the team. Alan Albright was to lead them on the investigative mission that could very well turn into a confrontation. Manny was too volatile, Julie was too new and Helen ranked lower than Alan. So it made sense. Ben didn't make a secret of how angry he was of the decision, though he did concede to the order.

What he didn't concede to was the silent order to act like a subordinate because he was currently one. Throughout the mission, he felt the need to disobey instructions, make scathing comments on the strategy Alan suggested, reformat the strategy more to his liking - much to everyone else's chagrin.

Julie pegged it as an ego bruising. Ben was too used to being the leader that he was unable to wrap his head around the idea of being replaced in that position. After Ship disconnected all the cameras and alarm systems, the place was encased in darkness. The team sneaked through the corridors carefully, each member watching their designated area while in formation.

"It's a bit dark here. Mind handing me a light?" Julie bantered playfully. She nudged closer at Alan flirtatiously, who chuckled in response. Ship jumped back into her arms as he sidled from the cracks in the corridors.

"You don't like the dark?" he asked. "I think it's pretty cosy."

Julie noticed the sounds in the background of Manny making choking, hacking sounds from his throat before someone - who she rightly assumed was Helen - slapped his side.

"The dark can get too cold. I appreciate a bit of warmth," she responded coyly, winking.

Before Alan could reply, a harshly spoken set of words intruded, "Can you focus on the mission?" They both snapped their head at the direction of the voice, smoldering green eyes meeting them square on despite the darkness. "This is not a game. I'd appreciate it if you don't compromise it." The coldness in his tone made shivers travel down her spine. It felt like it wasn't even Ben who was speaking.

Everyone clamped their lips shut as Ben stalked over to the front of the team. Manny grumbled something along the lines of something crawling up where the sun didn't shine and dying in it. Thankfully, Helen shushed him before Ben caught wind of any of the rest of the words.

The mission went by smoothly. The confrontation was action-packed, a good distraction to the tensions existing in the team. Going home dispelled the illusion that nothing was wrong.

The first thing that Ben did was hand the responsibility of writing the report on this mission to Alan. Helen interrupted and suggested she do it instead but Ben completely ignored the proposition. Julie, for all her kindness and patience, was losing her sympathy for the hero at his attitude.

This time, Alan himself became peeved enough to say something, "When did the hero become the bully? You're no better than the enemies you fight."

The Hero of Heroes stopped abruptly in his tracks before he reached the entrance of the Plumbers's headquarters. There was a fraction of a second of silence before a fist smashed squarely on Alan's jaw. The force of the punch was enough to send the half-Pyronite careening across the pavement. An audience of passers-by were watching the confrontation with bated breath. The rest of the team were gawking in shock at what was happening.

"Alan!" Julie only noticed later that she was the first to speak. That was - shout. In panic.

Ben was advancing threateningly to where Alan was crouched on the ground. Instinctively selecting a form from the Omnitrix without even looking, a flash of green light transformed Ben to Humongousaur. Usually, he said the nickname of the alien form. This time, there was silence except for gritted teeth.

Julie ran and placed herself in between them when Alan's Pyronite form burst into flame to ready himself for the fight.

"Ben, stop it!" she shouted, the thundering steps of the Vaxasaurian halting when she said so. Kneeling, she turned to the fallen half-Pyronite. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." The fire disappeared around his form.

A flash of green light from behind. Feet stomped back towards the direction of the was about to rush to Ben.

Manny, whose fists seemed all too excited about beating some reason back into the irate hero, was all too willing to follow. Then Julie stood up and stopped them from their tracks.

"I'll handle it," she said simply. She stared at Helen. "Just make sure Alan's okay while I talk to Ben."

"That guy needs more than just talking to!" Manny interrupted, all four arms raising in disbelief. "He needs a serious butt-kicking." Afterthought. "The important one, not the star."

"Please?" Julie begged, dark eyes staring up at the Tetramand in request. "I know this is too much to ask for. But I've been meaning to talk to him anyway." Those words came out as a mumble.

"Alright," Helen responded, raising a hand when Manny felt like adding more to his declaration. She headed over to Alan to help him stand up. Looking at Julie with that sense of older sister protectiveness, she added, "Just straighten him up, okay?"

"Promise."

When she entered his office, she couldn't help but demand, "_What is up with you lately?_" He had his back turned, though he seemed to stand straighter to attention when he heard her voice. Walking closer with renewed and angered determination, she continued, "Whatever I may have said to offend you, I'm so very sorry. But why Alan?" He turned towards her. "What could he possibly have anything to do with this? If you have something against me or anything that I said or did, please tell me. Don't drag him into this."

He looked so exhausted. His mouth opened, then closed. Then he mumbled something.

"Ben?" Julie asked, her eyebrows knitting in confusion and concern.

"You didn't say anything."

"You didn't hear any of that?" she bit out sarcastically, though her face blushed when she realized it just came out. Her hand hovered over her mouth.

He chuckled sadly. "You didn't say anything to offend me. Actually, you said a lot more things that made me feel the opposite." She scrunched her eyebrows.

"But, hey, look at me whine about that." He pointed towards himself, sardonically stating, "Our hero, ladies and gentlemen."

Pressing his hand over his forehead, she was obscured from seeing his expressive green eyes. The only thing she could see was his mouth partially open, his lower lip was always worried about him. Reaching out her hand towards him, she was stopped when strong arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace. She felt his breath through her hair. Alarm bells were ringing through her head. One word screamed repeatedly inside her head.

_Run._

Through the confusing, frightening feelings rushing through her chest and all the conclusions finally clicking into place, they condensed into the only one sensible decision. Run.

Pushing both hands against him, she was surprised how easily he yielded and let her go. When she stumbled backwards, she shakily stared at him through both trembling hands that wanted to just grip her face in disbelief. The disbelief was not because of what he did, but because of what she felt. She hated herself. She failed to see it. Before she could see more of the pained, uncertain expression on his face, she pivoted sharply and followed her mind's advise.

Julie ran. Past the offices - she vaguely heard her pet call out his own name - , outside of the Plumber's headquarters, down the street. Her feet pounded down the pavement. It wasn't long before he caught up. The spindly fingers of the Kineceleran form wrapping around her right hand before she crossed the street.

"Hey, Ben 10K!" some passers-by greeted. There were others staring at the scene now. She wanted them all to go away.

"Julie," he stuttered. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to - "

"Let me go," she tried not to sob. She couldn't look back. She would never look back.

He was silent. She could hear the world moving in its fast paced way - the traffic blaring, hoverboards flying overhead. For some reason, she couldn't quite forget the feel of his hand on her own even at her attempts to drown it out with the sensation of the world going by them.

"Ben," she repeated. "Let go."

She felt his fingers hesitantly disentangle from hers. She continued running. Anywhere. It didn't matter where she was going. The only thing that mattered was what she was running from.

---

She was practically strangling Ship with how tightly she was holding him, but her pet didn't complain. Wiping at her eyes, she choked as she tried to retain some semblance of dignity. She slid down the tiled wall of the toilets and held the Mechamorph tighter. The happy ring tone of her phone called for her attention.

Hands fumbling for the device, she shakily pulled it out. "Hello?" her meek voice squeaked into the receiver.

"Julie, it's Kai." She bit her lower lip until it bled. "Is this a bad time?"

_Yes._ Julie wiped the mess that was her face. Her pet stared up at her and said his own name with a sympathetic sadness. She smiled. "No, I'm free. Is there anything wrong?"

There was a thoughtful silence, as if Kai was trying to come up with the right words. "If you were in my place and you knew about something horrible..." Dread washed over Julie's spine. Her friendship. She didn't want to lose this. "Something horrible enough to make you think twice about your relationship," she said somberly. Enough that Julie's heart pounded in her ears in fear. "If you found out that there's another girl -" _Did she know? Did she know? Was Kai going to hate her forever?_ " - what would you do?"

"I.." she started to say, but her throat failed on her."Would you make him go away? Let him leave?" Kai asked, the urgency in her tone rising with her distress. "Even in all the years that you spent, would you just let him go?" Julie could hear the tears that strained the girl's tone. If they hadn't fallen from Kai's eyes, they didn't need to. Julie was doing it for her.

This was it. She was going to make this decision. Make or break. Everything. It wasn't something she could decide from deduction, like it was some mathematical equation she could add up and say that this was the answer. Out of habit, however, she started listing.

_How long had she been friends with Kai? Ten years. How long had - with Ben - this thing?_ Her eyes prickled again. She forcefully sucked in her breath and tampered down her heart's racing. _A year, maybe less. What was going to happen if she went farther than this? She would hate herself. Hate him from chasing away her best friend from her. _

"If I were you," she stated honestly, "I'd never let him go."

In the most quiet voice Julie had ever heard, Kai answered, "Thank you. For your advise. For everything, Julie."

Slowly releasing the death grip around Ship, Julie sighed through the receiver, "I'm glad I could help."

All the tears had dried, her heart had stopped clenching so painfully and the flourescent light above the toilet stopped blaring so harshly. When she hung up, she slowly stood up from her sitting position on the dirty, dank tiles. She walked through the exit, her decision made and steadfast.

---

He'd become foolishly complacent. When everybody started treating you as if you were invulnerable you would started believing.

He made friends with everyone. Some were truer friends than others but he gave them his friendship all the same. Striking up a friendship with the new girl in the headquarters wasn't anything surprising. He'd devoted a closer emotional connection because she was also a friend of Kai's - he could vaguely remember her face amongst the many in his wedding. Back in the day when he wasn't married yet, he had his barriers in place - impenetrable so that nothing could deter him from his objective. Now that it was achieved, he'd lowered his guard.

Big mistake. She was so damned nice. He almost resented her for it. Except that was part of the reason why he gravitated towards her so much. In some accidental way, he was taking advantage of her kindness when he asked her to accompany him in his break. At first, he just wanted to thank her. Their conversations were so engaging that he found himself wanting her company more and more. Sometimes, even in silence, he could just soak up her presence and the universe would disappear. That was the worst part. She made it seem like the universe _could_ disappear.

Then reality would return, full force, after she disappeared. That was completely unfair. She made him feel normal, despite the weirdness and the childishness. He cherished the Omnitrix and all the assistance it had given him. She forced him to hate it. After all, the watch was what brought him in this situation in the first place. Now he was at a cross roads, unwilling to make a move. Something was bound to happen to get him going.

Then it did.

His hand was finally in hers. Her back was turned to him and she refused to look. Advises and opinions she gave were all things he took to heart. random stranger made a greeting by shouting his name. The sounds of the traffic and the busy passers-by who walked down nearly drowned out the sound of her voice. Spectators were watching but he couldn't really give a crap. He focused on the words released by a mouth he couldn't see.

"Let me go."

On land, XLR8 was the fastest of all the aliens in his arsenal. He could probably circumnavigate the globe long before she'd reached her destination. A destination she probably hoped was far away from him.

"Ben, let go."

He felt his hand unwound from the soft, tiny brittle hands she owned. She ran. Ran as quickly as her feet could take her and never looked back. The air above him breezed past as the image of the Galvanic Mechamorph flew to follow the girl in pink. She was swallowed by the masses of people and winked out of his existence. He didn't run after her.

He took her advises because he believed she was right. She always wanted what's best. Just because he knew it was right, didn't mean he had to like it.

Surrounded by admiring onlookers, he'd never felt so alone. His empty hand never felt more empty. But it was all for the best. Whatever he was reaching for was probably just air. What he hated was that it deceived him; because it felt realer than anything else in the Universe.

He had to get back to the Universe. It needed him. She was just a tiny, wonderful maybe that took less precedence over _certainty_.

---

When she requested to be transferred to the Saturn colony Plumbers headquarters, it came as a surprise to everyone but himself. The day she left, all her friends and co-workers expressed sadness that she was going to leave. She mentioned that she was going to permanently relocate there, so that her home wasn't far away from work. _Call when you get there. An email would be nice. Tell stories of how Saturn's doing. Don't forget this place, okay?_

A lot of words exchanged. None from him.

He couldn't stomach seeing her go. So he didn't. When there was no one else in the office she was supposed to be in, he found himself staring at the desk she was supposed to be sitting in. He felt his stomach clench, his eyes stabbed with needles.

Nobody else seemed to notice the pink phone with the Hello Kitty keychain that was left behind. When his phone rang coincidentally, he knew it wouldn't be _her_.

He clicked the red button. Just for a moment, the Universe should leave him well enough alone.

---

_As soon as my heart stops breaking; _

_Anticipating,_

_As soon as forever is through,_

_I'll be over you_

---

_End._

**---**

**A/N: **Ben has made his choice and Julie has made hers. It's a decision that would separate them. I've always had a thing for star-crossed lovers without the death part. I also would like to point out that I don't believe in divorce so this was somewhat of a predetermined ending. Ben never really thought there was a choice to begin with - his conversation with Paradox meant that he had actually planned out his future so that it kept the Universe and all the people he loved safe. Julie's choice was to consider her friend's feelings above hers. They both possess a level of heroism and therefore, self-sacrifice. This is the true tragedy in the situation.


End file.
